Exactly What I Want From Every Movie

Comedy, adventure, romance: what more do you need?

As I've said many times, I'm super happy that streaming services have figured that there's a huge audience for rom-coms. And it makes me even happier that the success of romantic content on streaming services has convinced Hollywood to reinvest in the genre. It's been a long time since a preview really made me excited for a movie, but when I saw the preview for The Lost City I had a huge grin on my face. Hubs and I saw it this weekend, and I'm happy to report that grin stayed in place the whole time.

Loretta Chase (Sandra Bullock) is an author trapped by her own success. She wrote a series of romantic adventure novels as a way of coping with the death of her husband, but what began as therapy has become a sort of prison. She reluctantly goes to an author event with Alan (Channing Tatum), the sexy cover model who wishes Loretta saw him as more than a pretty face. When she's kidnapped by a reclusive billionaire (Daniel Radcliffe) who believes she can help him find a lost treasure, Alan is determined to prove to Loretta that he's more than what he seems. Problem is, he is exactly what he seems--a sweet, studly slice of beefcake whose idea of roughing it includes a wheelie suitcase and an ergonomic neck pillow. Channing Tatum has really perfected the hot-guy-with-a-heart-of-gold here: sure, he's got an insane body, but what's really crazy is how nice he is. Sandy, by contrast, is playing sour, and she might have been unlikeable without the palpable shroud of grief that surrounds her even when she's wearing a magenta sequined jumpsuit. There are plenty of sexy jungle romance tropes, but they're presented with a tongue-in-cheek energy: there's totally a scene where Sandy has to touch Channing's naked back while they sit next to a roaring fire, but instead of tending his manfully-achieved wounds she's helping to soothe his eczema with face masks. Speaking of tongue-in-cheek, Brad Pitt has a fun cameo where he's basically spoofing himself, and the only thing that isn't perfect about it is that I wish it had lasted longer. Daniel Radcliffe is having a good time chewing the scenery, but his villainy is a little flat. By the end of the movie he's reduced to waving a gun to get what he wants, and I would have liked to have seen some more creative cruelty from his character. Overall, this was super enjoyable, and I definitely recommend checking it out.

Who’s hotter in this movie, Channing Tatum or Brad Pitt? Let me know at lilycahillwrites@gmail.com.